


Chocolate Hearts

by F-117 Nighthawk (F117_Nighthawk)



Series: Dark Matter [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (they get better), Akane's death is heavily referenced but not shown, Canon Temporary Character Death, Chocolate, Family, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Adoptive Siblings, Keith's galra side gives him issues with sound sometimes, Relationship Arguments, but i'm not gonna put it under that bc it doesn't quite feel like it fits, family traditions, i promise this was supposd to be pure fluff, still she's enough of a major character it could sort of fit under the tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:21:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22749253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F117_Nighthawk/pseuds/F-117%20Nighthawk
Summary: Five times a Shirogane gave another Shirogane a piece of chocolate and one time someone who wasn't a Shirogane (yet) got one.
Relationships: Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith & Shiro (Voltron), Keith & Shiro's Mother (Voltron), Shiro & Shiro's Mother (Voltron)
Series: Dark Matter [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/797976
Comments: 8
Kudos: 52





	Chocolate Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> So my weekend took a turn for the absolutely shitty late Friday night, a fitting end for a very long week. But, I walked into the dojo this morning, and the first thing my senior master did after asking me how the week was (VERY SHITTY), was drop a dove chocolate heart into my hands. That simple act, that feeling of someone caring about me and finding a simple way to show it, apparently affected me enough I wrote an entire goddamn fic around the premise.  
> I _promise_ this was a supposed to be purely fluff. It's mostly fluff! But there are several referenced events that are Not Fun and the third scene is actually _directly_ before a life-changing Bad Thing (and the worst part is no one gets the full story until at least eight years later) and it just gets sadder from there.  
> oh also, the conversation with Shiro and Akane is all in Japanese we're applying translation convention here.

Keith could feel his ears twitch as the front door opened. Shiro had a project, so there was no way he was back yet, which meant that whoever was home had to be…

“Keith? Takashi?” 

Yep, Okasan. “‘Kashi’s at the Holts’,” he managed to mumble out. Even his voice sounded too loud. He could hear Akane as she walked into the living room, her Garrison-issue socks soft against the Garrison-issue floors. Thankfully, she seemed to sense enough of the problem that she didn’t turn on the lights. One of her hands landed in his hair and started combing tangles out. He pushed against it, the small contact grounding in the tornado of sound around him.

“Hey, Keith. You okay?”

_ He _ certainly thought it was obvious, considering none of the electronics in the house he could figure out how to turn off were on and his ears were currently covered not only by the tightest pair of headphones he could find but a pillow. “Too loud.”

“Long day, huh?” Akane’s whisper held a soft smile, the one she had when he or Shiro was having troubles and her love warred with her worry.

“Long  _ week.” _

“Do you mind if I sit next to you with a ‘pad?”

He considered. Sometimes when life got to this point when he had to unplug the TV lest the inductors vibrate his brain out of his skull, even someone’s breathing could be too much, but he also very much wanted a hug.

The hug won out. 

Akane ran her fingers through his hair one more time. “I’ll be right back.”

Her padded feet disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Keith feeling like the room was too empty. He pushed his face off the pillow and blinked in semi-darkness of twilight. The light of the sunset glancing off the main Garrison complex’s concrete and steel was just enough to see by. 

“Catch.”

The small object bounced off his back and landed on the floor. Keith glowered at it as he reached one arm to grab it. “What’s this?”

“Chocolate!”

He glanced at Akane, who had swung herself over the back of the couch and was now nestled into the corner with her datapad. “It’s… not that kind of bad week?”

She gave him a very solemn face. “Chocolate isn’t only for that kind of bad week. When I was a kid and I was having trouble with a class, or with some kid, Dad would sit me down in the living room and hand me one of those, but the time that’s stuck with me the most was in college. I’d had two exams that week already, and certain misogynistic professors who have since been fired were trying to poke holes in my thesis without actually explaining the holes. I was so,  _ so _ frustrated and stressed and it felt like the world was crashing around my ears. And then, I got back to my apartment, and Dad was there. It was like they sensed the week I was having, or maybe Papa teased it out from my snippy conversation with him. They sat me down and handed me a piece of chocolate exactly like that and suddenly, the world didn’t seem like such a shithole.” Her face softened slightly, a smirk emerging. “And immediately afterward I dyed my hair Iron Man Red and they freaked out, but it was worth it.”

Keith looked down at the piece of chocolate in his hands. It was a small, dark chocolate piece shaped like a cartoon heart. He glanced back up at Akane, and then down at the chocolate. Slowly, he unwrapped it and popped it in his mouth. The sight and smell and just the simple act of her dropping the chocolate in his hands seemed to cut the amount of noise in his head by half. “...Thanks, Okasan.”

Akane gave him a wide smile. “Any time, little one. Now get over here, I know you want a hug, you’re acting like a skittish cat again.”

When Shiro trudged in the door a few hours later with one more design project finished in his backpack, he found his mom steadily working through emails on the couch and Keith asleep against her side, curled up like a cat. 

* * *

“I just don’t understand why  _ he _ doesn’t understand. It’s not like I  _ want _ Torrent to be putting me on this mission, in fact, I  _ hate _ that he is! Torrent is one of the worst Generals I have  _ ever _ met, like, he doesn’t even bother to put up the  _ facade _ of doing things for the good of his men, or even for the good of the Federation. But I can’t disobey an order and Adam  _ knows _ that. We’re in the goddamn  _ military. _ ”

“Takashi.”

“At least you know Sanda is trying her best for the people of the Federation, but Torrent’s head is so far up his own ass he can taste the breath mints he’s constantly chewing. He’s just an  _ asshole. _ I really don’t understand how he still has a job, especially with  _ you _ garrisoned here. I don’t understand why he’s sending  _ me _ on this mission to the Rings. There  _ must _ be better pilots.”

_ “Takashi. _ Look at me.”

Shiro finally stopped ranting and looked at his mom. Akane was sitting at the other side of the kitchen table, a small object in her hand held out to him. He glanced down at it and all the tension bled out of his posture. The chocolate heart was worth more than any words she could have offered at that moment. Shiro took it and sagged onto a chair. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. To start with, you’re very lucky I’m off duty right now.”

Shiro snorted. “I know better than to rant to you about the higher-ups when you’re on duty, Mom.”

“I’m going to chalk your apparent belief in the fact that I am capable of getting  _ anyone _ dismissed up to the fact that I’m your mom--”

“Oh come on, those professors--”

“--were a  _ special case. _ That is beside the point of this conversation right now. Admiral Torrent is sending you to the Rings because you  _ are _ the best pilot, honey. If anyone can get a team close enough to fix the satellite that’s gone off course, it’s you. I can pretty much guarantee you that Adam understands that, he’s just worried and upset. He has a right to be worried, especially with the current projected trajectory of the satellite. Hell,  _ I’m _ worried, but that’s my job as a mom. You and your crew will make it back in one piece, I’m confident in that. Give him a day or two and he’ll be okay.”

“Alright. Thanks, Mom.”

“It might be nice to make him some extra-special belated Eid presents though.”

“I was already planning on it. In fact, I figure I should get some baking practice in right now--”

“No! Out of my kitchen, Takashi! Shoo!” she laughed, pushing him out of the room, “If you’re making him anything it will be  _ mochi!” _

* * *

Akane resisted the urge to growl over the comm. Even if she was the scientist in charge of this project, Torrent was still technically her superior officer. “Sir.  _ All due respect, _ but you  _ cannot _ repurpose the carbon capture plant. It is producing a vital component of our fuel.”

“My dear Rear Admiral, we need the depot for the food shipments to the Rings.”

_ “Build another depot then. _ If we don’t make fuel, then we can’t  _ get _ the food to the Rings, much less anywhere else, and that doesn’t even get into the effects stopping the carbon capture process will have on Earth’s  _ very _ delicate ecosystem.”

“Shirogane, I understand your concerns, but you have no idea what you’re talking about. This conversation is over.” Torrent turned off the comm with an audible click.

Her comm made a large crash as it thumped against the wall and fell into a precarious stack of books, knocking them onto the floor. _“No idea what I’m talking about?_ He has the _nerve?_ _I_ am the one with the fucking _Doctorate_ in environmental science and _he_ tells _me_ that I’m _wrong?_ My goddamn _thesis_ was on the effects of this system! Of _all_ the _stupid egotistical bigoted assholes_ this project had to get assigned under it would be _him._ I swear to fucking _god_ it’s like he doesn’t _want_ us to fix Earth!”

“Okasan?”

She took a deep breath and released it over a ten-count before she turned to face the owner of the voice. Keith was standing in the doorway of her office, shifting his weight between his feet. “Yes, sweetie?”

“I, uh, you seem upset so, here.”

Akane looked down at the object he held in his outstretched hand. A chocolate heart. Gently, she took it from his hand before pulling him into a tight hug. Keith burrowed against her shoulder and held on just as tight. They stood in her office for a few minutes before Akane finally spoke. “Thank you, Keith.”

His smile was all the joy she ever needed in one bright, purple-eyed, beaming package. “Anytime, Okasan.”

She withdrew enough to pop the chocolate in her mouth and chewed while she thought. “Alright. I’m going to pick up Shiro, maybe Colleen and Sam will have an idea of how to get through Torrent’s thick skull.”

“And then?”

Akane glanced at her kid quizzically. “And then?”

Keith shrugged. “You sound like you have an ‘and then.’”

She considered. “And then we’re going to the store and getting the  _ neonest _ hair dye we can find. If Torrent wants Full Bitch Mode, he is getting  _ Full Bitch Mode.” _

“Can I come?”

“Do you need more black dye?”

“Probably; the tips are getting pink again. Plus, I wanna see what you define as  _ even more _ neon than the green you have right now.”

Akane grinned and slung an arm around his shoulders. “Then come on, Keithy-cat, we’re going  _ shopping.” _

* * *

Shiro didn’t look up from the picture he was looking at when the knock at the door came. He barely even registered it happening. If it was Adam, come to give the ring back, he couldn’t… the past year had been  _ hell, _ he couldn’t bear that too. 

The picture had been taken the last time the family was all together and happy. Sam and Colleen were tucked into the corner, wide smiles on their faces as they ducked under his and Matt’s antics. Katie was mock-glaring up at them, hands on her hips, but Shiro could see the smile in her eyes. Next to them was Adam, barely holding Keith back from tackling Shiro with an expression of fond exasperation, and behind him, very clearly egging at least one of her children on, was Akane.

“‘Kashi?”

The nickname jolted Shiro out of his thoughts and into looking up at the figure that had somehow managed to enter his room. Keith had his jacket thrown over his Garrison uniform, hands shoved in his pockets. “I talked to Adam, kinda. He said he’s sorry, and he still loves you. He tried to get me to tell you more, but I said I wasn’t going to be the weird go-between between you for the next month. He’ll probably call you in the morning, but he’s  _ really _ mad.”

Shiro sighed and looked back down at the picture. “Thanks, bud.”

Keith sat down next to him on the bed. “I… I know I’m not Mom, and I’m utter shit with comforting words, but, if you need it, I’m here.”

Shiro turned back to the photo. “I miss her. I think I’m fine and then something like this happens and I pull out my comm to ask her for help figuring out what the hell I’m doing and--I can’t. I can’t catch a glimpse of her in the hallway and realize she’s dyed her hair bright neon pink or the brightest, grossest radioactive-yellow she could find. I can’t ask her what novel way her team’s found to speed up fuel creation and lower the global temperature or what new substance they’re putting in the ground to make more fertile soil. I can’t tell her about my day like I’m seven and just coming home from school, I can’t get her to run around in the street with a kickball until we accidentally break someone’s window, I can’t--I can’t give her a  _ hug.  _ God, I just want to hug Mom again.”

He was crying in earnest now, hands gripping the datapad the picture was on so hard his knuckles were white. Keith shuffled around next to him before holding his hand out infront of him with a small object. Shiro took the chocolate heart with a watery smile. “Where’d you even find this?”

“I may have found Okasan’s stash a while ago. I took it with me after… after the crash. I figured we’d probably be having more bad days that would need a little reminder that not everything in the world sucks. And it’s like, I dunno like it’s still  _ her _ giving them to us. It’s a little reminder that even if she can’t physically give them to us, her love is still in these surprisingly good tasting chocolates because she’d always be the one to sit us down and give us one when we needed it.”

“When did you get so wise?” Shiro sniffed.

Keith shrugged. “One of us has to be wise.”

He laughed, just barely a chuckle, but it made it through the tear tracks nevertheless. Keith leaned against him, looking at the picture over his shoulder. “I remember that. You and Matt were being such  _ dicks _ but you were  _ funny _ dicks so I kinda had to let Adam stop me.”

“Yeah, we were kinda being dicks.”

“But  _ good _ dicks, ya know?”

“You’re never going to let me live that comment down, are you?”

“We both know we’re far too queer for me to let you.”

Further conversation was cut off by Shiro’s comm beeping. He sighed and reached over to grab it. “Lieutenant Commander Shirogane.”

“Shirogane, General Torrent has requested your appearance in the command center.”

“On my way. Shirogane out.”

“You might wanna wash your face first.”

“Love you too, Keith.”

* * *

A lone figure sat on a dilapidated roof of what could only be described as a shack. His red and white jacket hung over too-thin shoulders and his jeans were stained with an innumerable number of substances. By his side sat a half-finished MRE pizza, the toppings picked at leaving just the bones. By his other side was a book full of scribbles, of lions and strange sigils and a just the wrong side of familiar set of brush strokes. They sliced down the page like scars down cheeks before joining, just for a moment, and separating like the wings of a dragon. 

In his lap was a single chocolate heart.

A tear dripped down his face and landed on the heart. “Well,” he said, looking up to the stars, “this is the last one, I guess. I really hope what I think is going to happen tonight happens, because I can’t take much more of this.” The figure reverently unwrapped the chocolate, half-melted in the desert heat, and placed it in his mouth. “Love you, Okasan, Shiro.”

Above, the Pleiades twinkled years of clung-to promises and the precarious dreams of a child. 

And he waited for one falling star to answer.

* * *

Just about the last thing Lance expected to happen to him that night was Keith settling down next to him in the observation deck. He stared at the other for a moment before realizing that Keith was holding something out to give him. “What?”

“Take it, you dolt.”

Lance took it with the sort of care of one who grew up with several siblings. “Is this… what?”

“It’s chocolate. Hunk let me help make it. Well, he let me pipe it into shapes, I have no idea what I’m doing with alien food.”

“So you made hearts?”

Keith shuffled. “It’s… family tradition? Okasan used to give us little chocolate hearts when we were having a bad day, and her parents used to give them to her. She used to say that the simple act of being given chocolate could save an entire day from certain doom. It wasn’t the fact that it was chocolate, it was the giving, the knowledge that someone cared about you and knew you were struggling. You seem like you’ve had a hard week, so… figured I’d carry on the tradition a bit longer.”

Lance gazed at his companion’s profile as the other looked out into the stars. He swore Keith’s eyes held galaxies in them, the familiar purple sheen casting an aura of fantastical over an already otherworldly premise. Sometimes he wondered how someone could be such a collection of contradictions; act like an anthropomorphic cactus on the outside but actually be a cinnamon roll when he wanted to be. Lanced wanted to see the cinnamon roll side more often.

“Thanks, Keith.”

Keith glanced over at him, and the small smile was all the comfort Lance needed.

**Author's Note:**

> I love Akane but she was destined to die from the moment I came up with her :( Fun fact: a good chunk of her character and backstory is based off said senior master who saved my weekend by being my second mom. The Badass Environmental Scientist who just wants to save the world is very much her. She doesn't dye her hair crazy colors like Akane does, but her sheer badassery knows no bounds.  
> Also! Akane is somehow the only person that picks up on Keith's hair doing Weird Color Things before they end up in space.


End file.
